[Music] pursuant to the open public meetings act chapter 231 public laws of 1975 this notice was sent to the Asbury Park Press on June 27th 2023 and has been duly advertised in the as heart press issue of June 30th 2023 all municipal Clerks of the townships the burls within the freeh hole regional district has been newly notified and the requirements of this posting has been met on June 27th 2023 please join me in the pledge I to the United States America to the [Music] stand Mr Zano any changes to the agenda yes Mr President uh in addition to the items that were noted on the agenda that was printed prior to the start of the meeting uh the board also discussed uh for exception uh number three in HIV appeal uh for number seven there was two additional matters there was the matter under case number three col 23- cv- 03946 and there was an update on a potential class action litigation uh settlement uh also uh the board did not discuss uh for exception number four the negotiations with the uh custodial maintenance and grounds Association is that it that's all okay may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the October 19th regular board meeting M Capello mgy oh was M BR I'm sorry any discussion board not hearing any discussion roll call Mrs Bruno Mrs cell yes Mrs pelli yes Mrs Higley yes Mrs La yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes just a side note Communications are on file in the office of the board secretary before we start with the superintendent report um I want to officially publicly welcome Dr Hazel thank you thank you thank you our new superintendent and um fantastic transition speaking for the board reading her emails we feel like we're there with her at the schools when she's doing her visitations and the photos so um good job and then down the road here is Dr Shaina how she's our new Chief academic officer she's usually standing back there now she's with us so welcome board and they're a good team so best of luck and now we're going to do our serving for yes great thank you Mr Bruno uh good evening everyone it is so wonderful uh to see parents and family and friends uh and students here you know with us this evening this is always a very exciting board meeting because we get to recognize our students um for their you know skills their artistic skills be um with our window painting their skills and talents and and we have a number of awards uh that are going to be presented this evening uh it feels like this event was so long ago um October 12th but it is such a tremendously great kickoff uh to the Halloween season and to Thanksgiving uh we had spectacular weather that day um so it was so wonderful uh for myself and uh the central Office Team and all of our principles and administrators and teachers to be able to partake uh in the event and just see you know the students so actively engaged in what they were doing uh and that was awesome to see I know when we go around and we want to talk to them they're a little hesitant cuz you know we always try to have our IDs visible so that they know we're from the district and we introduce ourselves so they're all very good not to like engage you know with too many of the uh strangers out there they do a great job but um just wonderful to have a conversation um you know with them about you know their work um they're just so passionate about what they're doing um and it really is I'm sure the community um thoroughly enjoys kind of walking up and down the street Street of Main Street to be able to see all of our work uh our students work so that's really spectacular um also um and I don't know if any of the students in this room participated um but our bands um you know played a very intrical role um at the parade and uh that's always a tremendous you know celebration I know you know from what I hear and we got a a beautiful thank you letter you know from the Spooktacular committee thanking our bands for their participation but when you know the younger you know kids and students are seeing the bands perform they say you know I want to do that when I go to high school too so that's a wonderful thing that we have that level of articulation and excitement around around that um always a big hit for the students um was lunch right um having um Pizza uh delivered right to the window where they were working so federi uh a big shout out uh to them because every year they really come through um you know for all of our students I I think you know they were seemed like they were pies everywhere uh and I was even opening up boxes kind of sneaking you know a piece as I was going through so um that's always great so tonight you know uh so many students are here we have some honorable mentions and uh obviously you know our third and second and first place winner so we are super excited um you know to see uh the work of our students and and to recognize them for the outstanding uh work uh and really their commitment um to that Community celebration so thank you um to all of the students um so at this time uh we have our Spooktacular committee um here with us this evening um and I think Tony uh Mrs field is going toony okay is going to great she's the co-chair right um You I know we have many different roles with everyone in these I've been on too long I've had too many titles so we won't go there got all the titles but Mrs guy um you know we appreciate you kicking this off for us thank you thank you and thank you for that introduction we do uh appreciate all the support we get from the board and from the regional um as you said uh our chair Tony field is not here tonight uh she does have she did prepare a speech for me to read but before I read her words um I want to say a few words uh I'd like to thank Dr Charles Samson who I know is not here he has moved on but he has been a great asset to us over the years and we are certainly looking forward to working with Dr Hazel so again thank you for those kind words uh also for those of you who are not familiar with our Halloween spectacular INF forel burrow we have a movie night haunted hay rides monster mesh which also Jacko Lantern contest and of course the annual custom parade in which five of the Bands participated this year and if you've never been to our parade the bands not only play Beautiful music throughout the parade downtown they also all dress in costume so it's really a sight to see all the students really get into it and play and get dressed up and really participate so we appreciate that and we appreciate your cooperation and letting them join us and now here are a few words from Tony field and I quote good evening I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving I am unable to make it to the awards presentation tonight due to my having laryngitis but still want to mention a few important things first I'd like to thank the Board of Education and the Regional High School District for inviting us tonight as an artist and educator I know the importance of the Arts and education and I sincerely appreciate your support of the FR Halloween spectacular window painting event and all the artists who do participate thanks to all the amazing art students who work so hard to decorate the windows with their amazing artwork we appreciate your sharing your talents with the community I would also like this time to mention a particular student his name is Preston peki I feel is important that I mention Preston's character tonight and how he handled the situation that occurred on window painting day thankfully the situation was rectified but thought you all should know that along with being an amazing artist Preston is also a kind considerate and respectful human being he handled the situation which morim will mention later with Grace and in my opinion is a great role model for many our world could use a lot more people like Preston and I want to personally thank him again for his display of dignity on window painting day I would also like to thank our new window painting chairperson morine stump she courageously and graciously accepted the position as the window painting chairperson and she has done a remarkable job of taking over for our dear friend Barbara Kane Barbara loves this event and she dedicated many years to making it the SE success that it is today she would be here tonight also but she did have another commitment too Barber's shoes are definitely hard to fill but as we can all see Moren has done a wonderful job of carrying on this beloved tradition and we appreciate the support from Barbara and the district as she continues to lead this event in years to come having Moren as a friend has been a blessing to me and having her join me on our spectacular committee is a true gift to our community unquote I too am also proud to call her my friend and now I'll turn the reason we're all here tonight the awards over to Moren okay hi everyone I know how excited we all are to celebrate each of our students an artist tonight but window painting is a team effort that we begin planning in July so I would just like to take a moment to thank a few people before we begin the awards Michael federici who unfortunately couldn't be here this evening um in freeholdboro have been with us for many many years supplying lunch for all the students as you mentioned um we are truly grateful for his continued partnership in this event and he and his staff are a joy to work with I would also like to thank Tracy Vaz and the students of Freehold Intermediate School for doing such a beautiful job painting the windows at Broad Street Plaza um the businesses give them give the kids ice pops and it's one of my favorites just because they all walk over I would like to thank DPW the fire department and our own Spooktacular Committee Member volunteers for the many hours spent cleaning the windows this year of all our wonderful businesses that participated I would like to thank Judy guy who I consider my good friend and co-chair for this event even if she will not accept the title she helped me with every every aspect of this event and I could not have done it without her our spectacular chairperson Tony Fields is one of the most passionate people I've ever met and her dedication to Freehold burrow is outstanding I am so proud of what she and our committee have accomplished this year now I would like to ask Annette pza and Rebecca pastro to come up please Rebecca pastro is the district's communication and project coordinator thank you Rebeca for capturing the Artistry with all your photos Okay and Annette I have a little more to say there are no words to describe how grateful we are for everything you do for this event and commit and our committee thanks you for being an integral part of our team but I must personally thank you as well andette answered every question I had with kindness and believe me there are so many she coordinates all the information given to the art teachers she provides us with the information we need for awards and assisted us with tonight's presentation she always made sure we have whatever she we needed thank you Anette you're an asset to the district and [Applause] certainly okay I would like to ask Judy guy our chairperson of monster mesh and Ursula excuse me Hurley our co-chairperson of the haunted hay ride to come up and assist with Awards as always the judges had an extremely difficult task judging this year's incredible creativity I want to thank the volunteers Jeff Freedman Lyn rice and Leslie da who take time out of their busy day to walk around town to select the winners I don't know how on Earth they decided but we have three honorable mentions in addition to our first second and third place winners and here we go okay honorable mention is um first is the painting is Green Lantern vampire by Michael Carter and Ola Tomy Gabrielle the teachers are Marissa Alvarado and Max Bole assistant principal art supervisor is Dr da Ola Tomy Gabrielle is not here tonight oh is Michael Carter here oh they're both not here okay is there a teacher okay great want to give them all to her [Music] our second honorable mention is um Howell High School principal Jeremy Braverman the painting is Caroline Poltergeist um the student is Ariana zova teacher is Colleen we and Sarah Materia art supervisor is Michelle England is Ariana here [Applause] okay yeah Colleen ween yes I said [Music] teacher our third honorable mention is Marboro High School principal Dr David Bleckley the painting is scarecrow be the light by Valerie Moss the teacher is Lauren Frasier and the art supervisor is Jane [Applause] Goldstein [Applause] okay third place is coln high school principal Dr Brian donaho the painting is the alphas by Madison WG Megan rumsby and Tara Durga the teachers are Lauren Henman and Audrey lipkind and art supervisor Jennifer GES I apologize if I am butchering names I very sorry great job you guys it was gorgeous yeah you want to come over here come here first try to [Music] hide too late [Applause] okay second place was Freehold Township High School principal Dr Alicia skelo the painting is Sweeney Todd the students are Anthony shria and Parker shvan teachers are Marissa alado and Max Bole art superviser is Dr [Applause] Dow I know it was it's I mean they're all just gorgeous sure you should wonderful and now our first place winner is Howell High School principal Jeremy Braverman the painting is American Psycho by Preston p teachers Colleen wear Sarah Materia art supervisor Michelle England come on out Preston tell him to stay woo very nice so I just want to say that um due to a miscommunication on my spreadsheet the wrong window was marked that morning for Preston to paint so I just want to apologize for the a error and say how impressed I was with how he handled it he never even wavered um that day he painted it didn't know what was going to happen I'm just very impressed so I just want to say that I'm a little emotional because again it was a big deal that day and it was a lot to deal with and he did wonderfully um before we conclude I'd like to say thank you to Freehold Township High School administration and students for creating the beautiful plaques that were handed to each student this evening um and once again thank you to the board for inviting us here tonight and most especially thank you to these art teachers and all these amazing students this is just a small sampling the paintings were just incredible as they are every single year so thank you all for having us thank you thank you we appreciate um the committee uh being here I know it's a very tough job to be able to judge all of these um because uh just so talented um so thank you all congratulations uh to all of our winners and to the families uh and a very special thank you to all of the teachers um who work so closely with our students in preparing um for this wonderful event um going to continue on uh with our board meeting um you know for uh the folks who are being awarded this evening you're more than welcome to stay but um you don't need to um so if you'd like to exit I'll just give a moment and I'll continue on with the meeting con congratulations thank you for coming congratulations thank you okay we're going to continue with our board meeting thank you all for coming thank you so a continuation congratulations everybody yes a continuation um with my report um as Mr Bruno mentioned uh for myself and and for Dr Howell um you know we were here in the district for so I was in my position uh 15 years prior to taking uh the superintendent seat um but had an opportunity uh the first six days uh from November 1st uh through the following week to actually you know go out to all of the schools um I spent three days in each building uh the same period um going in and visiting classrooms and uh greeting and meeting and for me introducing myself uh to the students um and in each of those classrooms just giving them some inspirational words and and kind of a message uh from me to them um to our students um just about personal responsibility and and really their primary role in in school is is their education and their academic program and and really owning that and working over time to develop um the confidence in everything that they're doing in their classes um and that was really important um for me to convey uh to them a personal responsibility to themselves and the choices that they're making as you know high school students each and every day uh in very large high schools with you know their social groups and everything that goes on and you know and just you know offering to them to continue to you know um be responsible to their school community and get involved in everything that's going on in the high school um it's four short years and and we want to make sure that all of our students you know seize every opportunity that's available to them in high school and they have all of the necessary supports to be able um to thrive and to sore um at freeall Regional High School District and in their prospective high schools so those visits were absolutely amazing um the students were so gracious uh when I came into their classrooms um and the teachers as I know also uh appreciated uh the visit as well so uh really just a shout out to all of our students you know in the district um I will you know as part of my work um be always integrating myself you know into the schools into what is happening um I Dr Howell and myself over the next couple weeks are going to be engaging with groups of students with fellow administrators um in focus group meetings and our executive student cabinet is going to be a part of that process too so uh through the month of December uh I'm really looking forward um to those meetings um so super excited uh for all of the work ahead um and the work of of this board of education alongside you know with me as well uh on tonight's agenda uh and this is always something of of big interest to students St and and to our staff is our district calendar uh for next school year um so everybody can take a look and see you know what those this is the first read it'll be on for a second read in December uh where all of the holidays fall where all of the days off are uh all of that is outlined and and parents like this very early on for their own preparation and uh the same for the school district for our um you know planning and preparation this particular calendar that you're approving for 2425 um does have three built-in snow days but I do want to you know uh just utilize this moment to say that the calendar for this year only has two built-in snow days um so again any of the makeup days um would need to occur um you know over the spring recess um so that is on uh for a read um tonight also I'm going to be uh presenting um it's called the s SDS report it's student safety data sheets um it used to be formally called um you know a violence and vandalism report um and also it you know outlines um you know hibs uh and substance abuse um we I will be reporting this is last year's um numbers uh it's the phase 2 Data from January through the end of the school year um and you know in some areas the numbers have gone up up and in some areas the numbers you know have gone down but just to provide context obviously all of you know we are a high school only District um you know with um you know uh teenagers and six high schools uh and over 10,000 students so when you hear the numbers I mean it's almost like you take it in almost like a divide by six um you know um you know to to just offer some context to these numbers um so it's it's broken into categories violence vandalism weapons substance abuse and uh substances um so in Phase 2 which was from January to June of last school year um you know incidents of violence across the district we had 44 six vandalism four uh with weapons substance abuse 64 and um for the time period uh half of the school year confirmed hibs uh 42 um six simple assault uh 14 incidents of a threat and 24 fights um vandalism um has damaged a property we didn't have any incidents one false public alarm um five thefts and um no incidents of trespassing um students that were in possession of a weapon for this time period there were three um but assault with a weapon zero substance abuse uh drug paraphernalia seven uh substance use confirmed 30 um and 43 students in possession um we did see a little uptick in those numbers uh obviously legalization of marijuana and uh but our Sachs and all of the interventions uh are in place to assist students um and you know the substance that we do see most prevalent uh is marijuana so uh that concludes the student safety data that is something that our administrators and myself we keep a very close you know eye on um and you know have a district that we have full guidance departments um sack counselors in every building uh to afford as many supports and interventions for students our district I'm going to segue um you know to Middle States um for those of you who don't um know what middle States is it's an accreditation process that occurs every s years in uh Public School Systems um we actually had uh a year through the co where we had an extension uh so it's been 8 years uh I was um you know in in the role and you know was part of middle States you know here in our district um but it's an accreditation external Educators come to our district and uh review all of our programs and our um our students accomplishments and achievements and it's really about a self-study for us as Educators and as administrators to really take a close eye of everything that goes on in our district uh for continuous you know Improvement and growth uh we are right now in a self-study um during this school year our visitation will be in the fall of 24 either in November or December um and part of that process as we look at our internal data within the system is also to survey you know our constituents so all of the students were surveyed um the survey went out to parents and also uh to our staff so that qualitative data will be part of the processes um to be able to you know really seek an understanding of what our constituents you know are are seeing and feeling and thinking about the experience here at preo Regional High School District and along with our own you know um components that we look at for Middle States uh will be able to kind of guide us with goals that we will generate for our work over over 7 years and really that's not absent of our district um strategic plan really goes in Tandem and in harmony with that um so we think the timing of this is just perfect um because you know we have so much you know good work that we know we have outlined in our strategic plan and I know we're going to see a lot of parallels um between the two the executive student cabinet members um who um you know work with me directly and and our central office uh administrators were a wonderful part of our um our middle States meeting that we had yesterday uh Mr Bruno our board president uh was also uh at that meeting and that was really just an opportunity to get everybody a full understanding of what middle States is and pull all of our constituents together um and really do some kind of foundational work um so I you know at this time I'm going to you know ask um Alexa and Nicholas uh Alexa from Howell High School and Nicholas from Freehold Township High School uh to go up to the podium and uh I know you have a few things that you like to share with us about your exp I was really impressed how the students kind of led the groups yes they spoke they talked about the changes and um they guys did a good job I was impressed usually the adults and the teachers in the room do that you guys took over that was great thank you thank you yeah good evening everyone my name is Nick I'm a senior at FR Township High School and I'm Alexa I'm from Howell High School at the first middle State systems teams meeting we as members of the executive student cabinet had the privilege of collaborating with a diverse group of stakeholders in our District's path towards middle State's accreditation the procedure is essential because it ensures that our schools comply with the highest quality and efficacy standards our primary focus during the the initial meeting was to review and affirm the district's mission statement and core values this was done to ensure they align with our current plan for the district as represented in the district strategic plan Compass 3.0 additionally we thoroughly examin the frhsd profile of The Graduate offering insights and suggestions and suggesting potential revisions to better reflect the involving skills and qualities our graduates need this meeting was not only productive but also an engaging and insightful experience highlighting our Collective commitment to Excellence and education the next steps in the process include our second middle State system team meeting on January 31st 20 2024 we'll review the finalized profile of The Graduate and Survey data and discuss draft system goals our Focus will be on pinpointing three to five priority areas for growth in student performance covering aspects like academic success and critical thinking and an area such as pro professional development or strategic planning this meeting is crucial for guiding our District's future strategies the MSA process is expected to take approximately 18 months and will conclude with a site visit from the middle State's accreditation representatives in Fall 2024 thank you thank you thank you do you remember when do you remember when the next meeting is you see how good they are yeah they're so good they are on our team I need know you're yeah and you know their work uh they're really representative bodies of you know all of the students at their school and even when we meet on a monthly basis and and have our agendas and we're conversing um they always have you know so much to share about their school and and the experiences and I know they go back and do excellent work you know in their school community so uh thank you to the executive student cabinet and your participation in Middle States and so much more thank you that concludes my report thank you thank you thank you yes um does any board members have any comments we're good anybody any comments okay all right um we don't have any board reports today so um Mr Boyce are there any changes yeah so there are two addendum on the back table uh that will be incorporated into the agenda these are not new resolutions they're additions to existing resolutions uh those resolutions are G2 approval of appointments G4 approval of honoraria uh and also J5 um approval of overnight excursions so in addition to those um addendum we do have a new resolution to offer it'll be item number j16 and I'll read it in to the record for your consideration tonight uh motion to deny the HIV appeal and affirm the findings in Ft 23- 24-02 as discussed in executive session uh again board that will be uh j16 and we'll include that in tonight's [Music] agenda there is no body signed up for public anticipation so we'll just go right on with our board agenda tonight we're going to take G uh Personnel negotiations may have a motion to approve G1 through G11 motion second I hear two Kathy and am yes any discussion not hearing any discussion broll call Mrs Bruno yes Mrs cello yes Mrs pelli yes Mrs Higley yes but same Mrs ladin yes m m yes Mr Fon yes Mr Messinger yes Mr Bruno yes thank you next we'll take H programmed operations building transportation and physical flant may I have a motion to approve H1 through I5 second not hearing any discussion motion Mrs berno Mrs cell yes Mrs Finelli yes Mrs Higley yes mrin yes Mr M yes Mr fesi yes but I Mr Messinger yes Mr Brun yes and I have stained H4 myself we're going to take educational programs and administration J1 through K3 night I hear second Diane and Amanda they teamed up over there one and two my any discussion board not hearing any disc discussion Mrs bero Mrs cell yes Mrs Finelli yes Mrs Higley yes Mrs Lavin yes M mob yes Mr paresi yes Mr Messinger yes Mr Bruno yes does any board members have old business to discuss any old business okay and Dr ha yes some business and then we'll go back to the board and see they might have some new business okay so I'd like to take a moment um we have a new appointment uh this evening uh for assistant principal at Manalapan High School uh Mr Adam Brash um formerly the seeka I see Nicholas you know cheering with excitement but he's going to lose you um um is a seeka over at Freehold Township High School um has been in the district for 16 plus years as a social studies teacher and as the supervisor of extracurricular activities um I'd like to welcome you to the uh administrative team uh over at man alipin high school and congratulate you on your appointment to assistant principal um I know you have interviewed with us in the past um and um have done exceptionally well and really have proven yourself in the positions you've held in The District in serving um primarily our students uh but also our staff and the free hole Regional Community so please stand to be recognized welcome to the administrator congratulations congratulations would anybody like to add some new business any board members I just wanted to make a comment um thank you very much that Veterans Day is um again on the calendar as a holiday um because you know how I feel about veteran day I just want to congratulate uh once again the spectacular winners uh and of course Mr bad as well and I'd like well go then get to work tomorrow all right he's got two things going you can do it you can you're young you can hand okay not hearing any more new business can I have a motion tojn oh oh I didn't even have a chance to say it um I have a motion to adjourn I hear Amanda I need a second I got a second all those in favor need's done